(I put the question in bold if you'd like to skip the "commentary")
Well I got to try out my HOG rig for the first time today during my OW cert - I've been letting a friend use it on the first 5 dives we had, but the last 2 I'm using it for (there was suppossed to be one for each of us, but since we had to share I thought I'd give the jacket style a try so I'd have something to compare it to). The difference was like night and day - WOW is all I can say. I got to try it basically because during our last dive when we did the gear removal underwater he had a lot of trouble and kind of thru up his hands in frustration - So during today's dive he used the jacket and I got to put my BP/Wing to use finally (He is stuck till the second set of gear arrives - I won't give it up again - lol). I have been practicing the gear donning/doffing at home (dry land style) so I was ready when the instructor had us do it underwater today - no problem. But I am having trouble with the weight belt still. I have found that I have to put the weight belt on under the crotch strap - I tried putting it on over, but it just would not stay put - it gets pushed away from me by the point where the crotch strap connects to the BP. I can easily unbuckle the waist belt and crotch strap to release the weight belt if I needed to, but since we were practicing surface rescues it took a lot of time and I'm not comfortable with it yet. Any ideas how I should be rigging this?
Back to my impression of the HOG rig - (5ft hose, bungeed backup, bp/wing) I had a much better field of view as the regulator on the long hose allowed me to turn my head in all directions without problem (I had trouble with the traditional style - the 2nd stage kept pulling out of my mouth) the bungeed backup was great to have so handy (the other rig has an air2) and the stability of the BP/Wing over the jacket was incredible - my trim and bouyancy control immediately improved - I had much more freedom of movement with the 1 piece harness and I found it a lot easier to put on and take off both on land and underwater (Even though the jacket model had quick release buckles) The nicest surprise was the "non-restrictiveness" of the harness - the jacket made it difficult to turn my head (accentuated by the reg hose routing) and I felt restricted in my movement in the jacket - the BP was like going from a suit and tie to a t-shirt in comfort. I do have to say that the jacket was more comfortable for the few moments it took to get from the sidewalk into the water - but the 50 minutes of comfort in the water were well worth the 2 minutes on land of less comfort (not bad even, just less comfortable)
I should add a follow up on my buddy's experience going the other way - (He's a great buddy - but this was funny watching him so I'll give him a hard time momentarily) During our OOA drill he had gotten used to reaching for the backup reg around his neck - today it wasn't there (Air2 remember?) but his snorkel was . . . lol - after a mouth full of water (which to his credit did not make him panic one bit, just become curious as to why his reg was delivering water instead of air) he figured it out - but found that his air2 and the low pressure inflator hose had gotten lodged behind him and caught in a strap - he took his primary back got those things straightened out and was fine. I asked him afterwards how he liked the jacket style BC and his reply was that he wanted the BP/Wing back - sorry I said, it's your turn to wait (It is mine after all. . . )
One other note: I have heard a number of people voice concern over the comfort of a BP/Wing setup if they are not wearing a heavy wetsuit - I have done all my diving in a .5 mil suit (that's 1/2 mil, not 5 mil) and it does not dig into my back or hips, the straps don't cut into my shoulder (except very slightly when on land, but it's not very noticable)
I'm starting to wonder if this should have gone under BC's instead of the HOG forum . . . oh well it's here now ;-)
Tim
Well I got to try out my HOG rig for the first time today during my OW cert - I've been letting a friend use it on the first 5 dives we had, but the last 2 I'm using it for (there was suppossed to be one for each of us, but since we had to share I thought I'd give the jacket style a try so I'd have something to compare it to). The difference was like night and day - WOW is all I can say. I got to try it basically because during our last dive when we did the gear removal underwater he had a lot of trouble and kind of thru up his hands in frustration - So during today's dive he used the jacket and I got to put my BP/Wing to use finally (He is stuck till the second set of gear arrives - I won't give it up again - lol). I have been practicing the gear donning/doffing at home (dry land style) so I was ready when the instructor had us do it underwater today - no problem. But I am having trouble with the weight belt still. I have found that I have to put the weight belt on under the crotch strap - I tried putting it on over, but it just would not stay put - it gets pushed away from me by the point where the crotch strap connects to the BP. I can easily unbuckle the waist belt and crotch strap to release the weight belt if I needed to, but since we were practicing surface rescues it took a lot of time and I'm not comfortable with it yet. Any ideas how I should be rigging this?
Back to my impression of the HOG rig - (5ft hose, bungeed backup, bp/wing) I had a much better field of view as the regulator on the long hose allowed me to turn my head in all directions without problem (I had trouble with the traditional style - the 2nd stage kept pulling out of my mouth) the bungeed backup was great to have so handy (the other rig has an air2) and the stability of the BP/Wing over the jacket was incredible - my trim and bouyancy control immediately improved - I had much more freedom of movement with the 1 piece harness and I found it a lot easier to put on and take off both on land and underwater (Even though the jacket model had quick release buckles) The nicest surprise was the "non-restrictiveness" of the harness - the jacket made it difficult to turn my head (accentuated by the reg hose routing) and I felt restricted in my movement in the jacket - the BP was like going from a suit and tie to a t-shirt in comfort. I do have to say that the jacket was more comfortable for the few moments it took to get from the sidewalk into the water - but the 50 minutes of comfort in the water were well worth the 2 minutes on land of less comfort (not bad even, just less comfortable)
I should add a follow up on my buddy's experience going the other way - (He's a great buddy - but this was funny watching him so I'll give him a hard time momentarily) During our OOA drill he had gotten used to reaching for the backup reg around his neck - today it wasn't there (Air2 remember?) but his snorkel was . . . lol - after a mouth full of water (which to his credit did not make him panic one bit, just become curious as to why his reg was delivering water instead of air) he figured it out - but found that his air2 and the low pressure inflator hose had gotten lodged behind him and caught in a strap - he took his primary back got those things straightened out and was fine. I asked him afterwards how he liked the jacket style BC and his reply was that he wanted the BP/Wing back - sorry I said, it's your turn to wait (It is mine after all. . . )
One other note: I have heard a number of people voice concern over the comfort of a BP/Wing setup if they are not wearing a heavy wetsuit - I have done all my diving in a .5 mil suit (that's 1/2 mil, not 5 mil) and it does not dig into my back or hips, the straps don't cut into my shoulder (except very slightly when on land, but it's not very noticable)
I'm starting to wonder if this should have gone under BC's instead of the HOG forum . . . oh well it's here now ;-)
Tim